Hello everyone! Are you ready for part 2 of our Digital vs. Paper Planner Comparison? Well here it is! (If you missed part 1, check it out here.) By the way, we’ve created another video on Portability of planners to go along with this blog. If you would like to check that out click here! But go ahead and read on…
If you’re new to our blog. First of all, WELCOME, we’re so glad you’re here! Second, be sure to subscribe to our blog, that way you don’t miss out on any of our posts.
So if you remember from last week’s blog, we are comparing apples to apples between a paper planner and a digital planner. This week we are covering portability and longevity. In my opinion these two aspects are MOST IMPORTANT when deciding on which planner to use, ESPECIALLY for a student. Whether or not your planner can survive the grueling semesters or if it’ll make your bag seem like you’re carrying bricks. Hopefully, today I’ll give you the tools you need to make that decision easier. Now this post is NOT JUST FOR STUDENTS—it’s for any planner lover! Whether you’re a new parent, a newlywed, or single these aspects of a planner are just as important. So let’s go ahead and get started!
1. Portability
Portability is crucial when considering a planner. Can you take it everywhere? Do you have to leave it at home? Is it reasonably sized to take to class? These are all questions that must be asked before choosing a planner. The problem is that not very many paper planners pass this test with flying colors. They all have one drawback in at least one of these categories. Most of the time it has to do with the weight of the planner. Many planners nowadays can be fully customized. You can add templates, stickers, tabs or even charms. The personalization and customization is good, from a planning standpoint, but it’s detrimental from a portability standpoint. Taking your planner, sticker packs, colorful pens and highlighters can get downright ridiculous, especially when you’re trying to cram all of that AND your textbooks into your bag. Luckily, there is a better way–digital planners.
In this case, the newer IS better. iPads are SO popular now. Students, professors, high schools, businesses, moms, dads, and everyone can use an iPad. They are SO versatile. They almost replace desktop computers and laptops—all for a fraction of the price. In fact, there are many people who decide to ONLY use iPads. iPads are used in a little under HALF of the primary, secondary and high schools across the nation. Practically EVERYONE uses these wonderful gadgets. The best thing is that digital planners are NATIVE to iPads. They were developed for the iPad, and the iPad’s size is perfect for planning. iPads are also a fraction of the thickness and weight of most textbooks. In many cases you can even get digital textbooks! (More on that in a later post) With a digital planner on an iPad, you can get all the benefits of writing by hand and having your planner be digital. So yeah, there are A LOT of benefits when it comes to using an iPad for your notetaking and your planning. But probably the biggest difference is the weight. Digital planners are very lightweight. Whether your digital planner is 100 pages or you expand it to 300 pages, your bag weighs the same!
2. Longevity
How many of you have had a paper planner FALL APART in the middle of the year? I HAVE! It’s so frustrating. This is the biggest reason why I would buy planners that were under $15. By the middle of the year, all that taking it out and putting it in my bag wears it down, eventually it falls apart and I have to buy a new one. This was the biggest drawback for me for a paper planner. I would use my planner so much that it wouldn’t even last for the whole school year! This led to my not using a planner at all, because I was so tired of it falling apart. But that only lasted for about a year because, without a planner, I couldn’t prioritize. So I started researching planners again hoping that, by now, a newer, better option was available and there is!
Digital planners have unbelievable longevity. You can’t lose or break them! Even if your iPad goes down, you STILL have your planner. The app that I recommend, GoodNotes 4 (at the time of this post, GoodNotes 5 doesn’t quite have this feature yet), has a BACKUP feature. Not only does a backup prevent losing your planner, it also makes the planner accessible on all your devices, such as smartphones and computers. Even if you drop your iPad and it breaks or becomes water-logged, you get a new one and load all of your backed up notes and your planner onto the new one! Theoretically, digital planners last forever.
I’ve researched and tested different file types and different structures of digital planners. The digital planners that I’ve designed are constructed in such a way that they last forever AND are a small file size. What’s the difference? My digital planners are high quality PDFs, created with vector elements. This makes the planner not only smaller and faster, but they don’t get pixelated when you zoom in. Also, due to their PDF nature, they can be used in ANY PDF annotation app and can be used for years to come. Here’s my recap…
So thanks for reading my research on the portability and longevity of digital and paper planners. If you are interested in the digital planners that we offer here you can click here or on the image below. As always, we will continue to be available for questions or help with your digital planner purchases. Either watch our helpful videos or contact us directly. Thanks for reading!
– Rinne
